L_D_M

Ouch, that's rough. In my case, the few times I managed to get through to AF on the phone during these six months, they were reasonably helpful. On email, they consistently refused to engage and referred me to Yatra.

Keyser

same here....on email af would tell me to get back in touch with expedia but over the phone they were very helpful & i eventually managed to get the voucher from af because of this....

quarryking

I think, moral of the story being to avoid all these OTA's with a barge pole. Works best to use them to look for all the options on offer for a route and then just head to the respective airline's site and buy it, whatever might be the deal, offer , voucher, minimal discount - the OTA might be dangling in front of us.

Keyser

i never use an ota to book tickets....always use the airline directly....this was the only time in the last 10 years that i used one....expedia had a fantastic $1,500 business class return ticket deal between usa-india last year so i used that to book 2 return tickets....used the first one without any problems & then the pandemic started in between the second trip....i had already used the ticket one way but my return got cancelled....it took af & expedia almost 6 months to sort it out but they eventually did....

PiperAtGatesofDawn

In most cases yes of course it's the OTA who is sitting on the money. They have had no business of 6 months now... they're not going to survive at all if they don't do this.

But in general - OTAs should be avoided like the plague - pandemic or not. I don't ever use a OTA unless I'm getting a massive benefit over booking direct.

So sometimes when I have available Smartbuy balance I use them - knowing their horrendous cancellation charges but the 33% returns is always a pretty sweet deal. And about a couple of years ago I got a deal through Expedia on an CA flight that was less than 50% of what was quoted on the AC site. I bought that immediately but worried every day till I checked in that they would cancel my ticket. Other than that I'd never go through an OTA to save a buck or grand. Being a frequent traveler whose plans change enough - the additional charges + hassles even during normal times has never been worth it.

L_D_M

This was the only reason for me, really.

AJLondon

That 33% smartbuy offer is really biting in the backside now. Never again with these OTA's!

Been struggling for several months with Yatra and Cleartrip (both via smartbuy) for various international and domestic refunds. Have close to 5L stuck across different tickets.

PiperAtGatesofDawn

That's tough. Of course Smartbuy has given up on us before we had a chance to give up on them!

But even before Covid - flight cancellations with them was fun - without the delay in refunds. Buy a plane ticket - cancel it - get a bag of peanuts after deductions from the airlines, OTA, Smartbuy and the Armenian housing developement authority amongst others.

Why aren't you disputing the charges - that will get them to hurry up the refund.

PiperAtGatesofDawn

That's probably the convenience fees + GST. And no by Indian laws airlines are not required to refund it.

I think this is because none of the wise old men & women at DCGA have never bought tickets on their own in their lives - hence probably don't know that such a thing exists and should be returned to the customer.

L_D_M

Nah, I've accounted for the "convenience fee", which was supposed to be Rs 236, and there was a discount of Rs 200. They've deducted Rs 972 in addition to that Rs 436, and so far no one has been able to tell me whether it was Yatra that did it or Smartbuy.

Smartbuy's role in all this has been to offer zero assistance - except to refer me to Yatra all along. And after I sorted my problem out following six months of persistent following up, they sprang into action, informing me repeatedly that my refund had been processed. Which I could see for myself on my online statement.

PiperAtGatesofDawn

File another complaint with HDFC.

L_D_M

What do you know, my statement was generated today and I see they've refunded every thing, including convenience fee, discount and whatnot. They've made a separate credit of Rs 1407 that covers all of it. Bizarre, and makes me think this might not be the last I'm hearing of this whole saga.

PiperAtGatesofDawn

SC rulings and fraud complaint helping I assume.

SC just told the airlines if they want to keep the cash in a credit shell - they must pay nominal interest to the consumer! I'm sure there are some pressures on the airlines & OTAs to refund the monies they've been holding on to ASAP.

L_D_M

Found this interesting article in the Guardian about how Ryanair has accused travel agents of sitting on passengers' refunds endlessly. The OTAs make bookings with their own credit cards, and refunds are made to those cards, which makes it difficult or impossible for airlines to compensate customers directly even if they wished to do so. (Under EU rules, passengers are allowed to claim refunds directly from airlines though they booked via an OTA.)

Keyser

have a one on one meeting with hardeep puri tomorrow evening....after my official business is over, i plan on bringing up my air india refund woes with him....let me know if anyone has any comments on the current aviation sector & i can relay that to him....